On Tuesday in the House Ways and Means Education Committee, Rep. Phil Williams presented a substitute bill amending House Bill 541, the Education Options Act. It contains several adjustments to the original bill, some substantive and some merely technical.
I’ve listed the substantive changes below. If you’d like to see the exact differences between the introduced and substitute versions of House Bill 541, click here. (words in red are in the substitute version but not in the introduced version).
Committee Chairman Rep. Jay Love has scheduled a vote on the bill for Thursday morning.
Substantive Changes:
Providing that public charter schools can only open in systems with persistently low performing schools. (Pages 1, 8, 22, 23, 36, and 37)
Lowering from 50 to 20 the statewide cap for public charter schools. (Page 40)
Providing that public charter schools must locate in a priority local school’s attendance zone. (Page 24)
Adding two members to the Charter School Application Review Council, and changing the makeup to include the State Superintendent of Education and two members of the State Board of Education. Further clarifying that the Charter School Application Review Council is established within the State Department of Education, rather than as an independent state agency. (Pages 12 and 13)
Making the election of TRS/PEEHIP participation one-time and irrevocable, and requiring that decision to occur within the first year the charter school is in operation. (Pages 55 and 56)
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